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False War
The most recent border skirmish between the ponies of the Elsir Vale and the Southern Griffon Tribes took place a mere four years ago. Referred to in Canterlot as 'The Stalliongrad Incident' and in Stalliongrad as 'The False War,' it came very close to being an actively declared war between the two nations. Very close, but not quite. After an unusual season of perceived Griffon encroachments and a few casualties had occurred between hotheads on both sides determined to "deal with it," their own way, the exact cause of the conflict cannot be narrowed down to a single incident or party. However, as winter approached, the local guard forces of the Elsir Vale agreed that enough was enough and rose to the occasion with rather more enthusiasm than Canterlot might have preferred. Before word of the first fighting had even reached the capitol, multiple guard militia groups, particularly led by Stalliongrad Militsiya ''forces, had gone a considerable distance over the established border on the offensive. The entire conflict lasted nearly two weeks before peace could be arranged, both due to the delay in apprising Canterlot of the severity of the situation and the difficulty in rallying a single ambassador for the Griffon tribes. Even with peace negotiated there were raiding groups cut off from easy communication which had to be reached, made to stand down, and repatriated. While it is a fresh and bloody battle in the minds of those directly involved, the fighting was primarily along the border mountains or encroaching aggressively into Griffon lands. The actual fighting never reached any of the pony settlements of the Elsir Vale. As a result there is something of a perceptual disconnect regarding what happened between those who were actively involved and those who saw it as just another 'border skirmish.' Adding to this seeming disconnect is the strangely detached attitude the Kazak ponies (and at least some of the Griffons) have about the whole thing, regarding it as a somewhat regrettable but expected event. A tradition of combat and rivalry has existed between the two groups for so much of the past millenium that Celestia's peace is seen as an unusual exception rather than the norm. Griffons were conducting business as usual without repercussions in Stalliongrad and the rest of the Elsir Vale within days of the conflict's end (some, in fact, had never even stopped). Further complicating matters, the Kazak-led Stalliongrad Militsiya command is strongly suspected (and was harshly admonished by Princess Celestia) of using the opportunity to reacquire old Kazak 'territory' (ignoring the fact that the Kazaks had invariably been intruders on Griffon land, and that Stalliongrad itself was built on what had originally been Griffon land, etc.). The last three years have seen a significant reduction in the number of active ''Militsiya registered in Stalliongrad, almost certainly at Celestia's request. While on paper this results in a smaller force and one seemingly less capable of conducting aggressive adventures, it's fairly certain that many of the pensioneers (particularly the Kazaks with their military culture) would rally immediately in the event of another war.